Pokemon of the Week #5: Azumarill

Hello Hat Lovers!

For week the fifth of Pokemon of the Week we’ll be looking at Azumarill. Azumarill was introduced in generation 2, but originally it was a very mediocre Pokemon. Since its inception it has gotten better with each passing generation. Generation 3 gave Azumarill Huge Power, which turns its base 50 attack into an effective base 150 attack. Generation 4 gave it physical STAB with the physical/special split. Generation 6 has changed Azumarill’s pure Water type to a Water/Fairy type.

Azumarill has finally made a name for itself this generation. Being a Fairy type allows it to deal with the ever popular Dragon types Garchomp and Salamence. Having a massive attack stat to go with a priority move is also a major boost that allows Azumarill to pick off weakened opponents.Base Stats:

100 / 50 / 80 / 60 / 80 / 50

As we can see Azumarill’s offensive stats are terrible and its defensive stats are pretty good. However Huge Power makes that attack stat an effective 150 base so once we take that into account Azumarill’s stats are looking great. The only poor stat is it’s middling speed, but Azumarill has a strong priority move to make up for it.

Abilities:Azumarill has three abilities: Thick Fat, Huge Power and Sap Sipper.

Thick Fat reduces Fire and Ice damage, but Azumarill resists these types to begin with and Azumarill has much better choices for it’s Ability.

Huge Power doubles Azumarill’s attack stat. This is the Ability for Azumarill and it so important to its viability that I had to mention it twice before getting to this section.

Sap Sipper makes Azumarill immune to Grass moves and boosts it’s attack by one whenever it gets hit by one. You miss out on Huge Power but an unexpected immunity to Grass can catch your opponent off guard. Use this Ability when using a defensive set on a Perish Trap team.

Attacks:

For offence Azumarill gets Aqua Jet, Waterfall, Play Rough and Superpower. Aqua Jet and Play Rough are the main attractions, providing great coverage and both a priority move to make up for Azumarill’s low speed and a strong attack to use with Azumarill’s fantastic attack stat. Waterfall gives you a strong Water type move and a powerful STAB that doesn’t miss, but I’d only use it on a Choice Band set. Superpower gives Azumarill an attack that OHKOs Mega Kangaskhan, a much needed boon for any team.

Belly Drum raises Azumarill’s attack to +6, ignoring any previous attack drops. Sitrus Berry will heal you back to 75% which should be enough to withstand one hit. From here you can start spamming Aqua Jet with an attack stat of 896. This set appreciates Fake Out support to help it set up safely, often from Mega Kangaskhan.

I’ve seen a spread of 212 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 36 SDef / 4 Spd going around on the internet. This spread reduces the chances of getting OHKO’d be Manectric’s Thunderbolt but it doesn’t prevent the KO entirely. I’d prefer to try and speed creep other Azumarill / Mawile then lower the chance of a KO that I can’t prevent entirely.

This set hits hard without the need to cut your HP or spend a turn on set up. This is the set me and Mark have been using the most because without the Band Azumarill isn’t hitting as hard as we’d like. This set has issues due to the lack of Protect and locking into one move preventing you from using a strong attack and finishing up with Aqua Jet.

Mark’s spread: 60 HP / 124 Atk / 68 Def / 188 SDef / 68 Spd

– Survives M-Manectric TBolt and M-Kanga’s Return. Still OHKO’s 252 HP M-Kangaskhan. Outspeeds Machamp, TR Chandelure, and Scrafty. Mainly wanted 79 speed Azumarill on my team so Azumarill could deal with Scrafty and protect its partner. It’s not like Azumarill cares that much about Scrafty, so feel free to take that Speed investment and return some of it to Attack if your team doesn’t care. A good target Attack is 196 to OHKO Garchomp at -1 100% of the time, but to reach this while keeping your bulk, you need to let M-Kanga have a 6% chance to KO you.

Wanting to avoid the pitfalls of a Choice Band set while still retaining the power to OHKO our main targets brings us to Expert Belt. This set still gets the OHKO on Kangaskhan, Garchomp, Salamence, and Tyranitar while still 2HKOing Rotom-H with Aqua Jet. This set loses out when you can’t deal super effective damage to the target, but you often lost out to those Pokemon anyways.

Teammates:Azumarill will enjoy a partner that helps it set up a Belly Drum. Kangaskhan is an excellent user of Fake Out and once you have a +6 Azumarill beside a Mega Kangaskhan your opponent is going to have to decide which threat is more important to deal with and leave the other to wreak havoc.

Amoonguss can redirect attacks with Rage Power and resists any Electric attacks being aimed at Azumarill. Amoonguss is also a great answer to Rotom-W.

Manectric can redirect Electric attacks with Lightning Rod and can provide Intimidate support with its Mega Evolution to help Azumarill take a hit. Raichu also provides Lightning Rod support as well as Fake Out support to help Azumarill set up safely.

Rotom-H has great synergy with Azumarill, being able to switch in on any Electric or Grass attacks and threaten opposing Grass and Steel types with Overheat. Salamence appreciates having Azumarill to switch in and take a Dragon or Ice move aimed at it.

Azumarill can be the Fairy type in a Fantasy core (Fairy/Dragon/Steel) or the Water type in a Grass/Fire/Water core.

Counters:

Grass types like Mega Venusaur and Amoonguss can wall Azumarill and hit with a super effective Giga Drain. Ludicolo can also give it trouble but doesn’t enjoy taking a Play Rough. Trevenant and Gourgeist can burn it with Will-O-Wisp and use either Leech Seed or a STAB move to help it go down faster. Ferrothorn can wall any Azumarill that lacks Superpower.

Rotom-W can 2HKO Azumarill with Thunderbolt and survive a Play Rough. Rotom-H can OHKO Azumarill using a Life Orb set. Either Rotom form can burn Azumarill to reduce it’s threat level to a minimal one. Mega Manectric can Intimidate Azumarill and deal a ton of damage with Thunderbolt, having a good chance of OHKOing standard Azumarill.

Having Quick Guard on your team helps with dealing with Azumarill, as does having your own priority move to KO it before it can KO you.Conclusion:Azumarill’s great typing, Ability, and movepool makes it a great Pokemon for VGC. An opponent can never ignore Azumarill as it threatens to Belly Drum and start sweeping. The Aqua Rabbit took a while to grow on me but I’m now a fan of having it on my teams for defensive switches and powerful physical attacks.